Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Hit By Car and His Bike Stolen...All On His Birthday

This happened to barista and cyclist Mike Hardy on his 27th birthday back in September. He was struck by a car riding his Soma Rush to his girlfriend's house. While paramedics were treating his injuries, the bystanders, who initially checked on Hardy after the accident, made off with his bicycle. This was all caught on a Kansas City Police Department dash camera. The video footage (click to view news story and video) shows the thieves checking the bike out for damage, then rolling off with it.

With the video footage in hand the police and Hardy hoped to be able to track down the thieves. The Kansas City cycling community and his friends had all pitched in to help get the word out on the stolen bike, which Hardy was very appreciative of. But so far, no luck.

When we heard about the incident, we tracked him down on Facebook and offered him a new frame and fork if his bike was not recovered. After giving the cops six weeks, he took us up on the offer. We also sent him a set of red Foer rims that were on the stolen bike. It will still be some time before Mike can ride, but at least he has something to look forward to when he can. We wish him a speedy recovery.

* * * * *Mike said he and his friends lovingly built the Rush to be a racer. But we bet he didn't have a set of these new Urban Pursuit 31.8 bars. These are 31.8mm in the center for enhanced stiffness and have shorter horns than our original Urban Pursuit bullhorns. They kind of look like RB018's. These should be available in shops in a couple of weeks.

* * * * *More new track bike news....track not tark since this show involves vintage pistas and other classic bicycles. Superb Bicycle asked us to offer up a little schwag for their vintage bicycle show, Bella Biciclette. I saw their promotional image and thought it was so cool and had to up it here.